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OTTAWA — While Canada's frontline military force has emerged untouched in this year's federal budget and reservists were provided some relief, thousands of Defence Department civilians and contractors could be on the chopping block.

At the same time, the country's diplomatic footprint is set to shrink as the government will close embassies and other missions and end Canadian participation in a number of international organizations, while millions in foreign aid will be slashed.

As expected, National Defence is facing the largest cuts of all departments in terms of sheer numbers, at more than $1.1 billion by 2014-15. This is over and above the $1.1 billion the government already had planned to slash from the department's $21-billion budget this coming fiscal year.

Few details were provided, but by maintaining the current level of 68,000 regular force members and 27,000 reservists, the government appears to have taken retired general Andrew Leslie's advice to maintain the frontline force and instead cut back on the $2.7 billion spent on contractors, consultants and private-service providers.

The Defence Department also may look to sell or otherwise dispose of some of the property it currently holds in different parts of the country and change the way it purchases equipment.

On that front, the government is taking $3.54 billion it was planning to spend over the next seven years on military vehicles and other items and saving it for a future date. This largely reflects delays in a number of projects.

Meanwhile, the government is planning to help offset hiring and training costs incurred by companies that employ reservists who subsequently are deployed on military operations.

"Canada's reservists make extraordinary sacrifices to keep our country safe," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in his budget speech to the Commons. "But potential long absences and added costs mean some employers will not hire them. These brave Canadians should not be disadvantaged."

Canada's Foreign Affairs Department is facing $169.8 million in cuts by 2014-15, which represents nearly seven per cent of its planned $2.6-billion budget for this fiscal year, which already was slated to be slashed by $32 million from last year.

Again, details were sparse, but the government did say it is hoping to raise $80 million by selling a number of Canadian diplomatic residences and an official acknowledged some embassies or consulates would be closed as well.

The government official said the idea is to streamline Canada's diplomatic presence and focus on areas of national importance, though he did not identify which countries would be affected.

At the same time, Canadian diplomats who typically are deployed on three-year postings will spend longer periods abroad, not only to save money, but in the hopes they will develop better contacts.

However, they will have fewer resources. The government plans to reduce the number of vehicles available to Canadian diplomats abroad and to cut back on the amount of money available for travelling and wining and dining foreign counterparts.

Some of these measures already have been tried — with mixed success.

When the government sold Canada's prized Strathmore ambassadorial residence outside Dublin in 2008, it received nearly $8 million less than the property was worth. Closing diplomatic missions also typically draws the ire of host countries.

In addition, internal Foreign Affairs documents have shown that Canadian diplomats were unable to do their work effectively when their travel and hospitality budgets were cut in half two years ago.

Foreign aid will be reduced by $377 million by 2014-15, which represents about 7.5 per cent of the approximately $5-billion international assistance envelope.

The Canadian International Development Agency will bear the brunt of those reductions, which had been anticipated after the government capped aid spending two years ago. Again, further details were not provided, but Canada already has been among the lowest international aid donors as a percentage of gross national income, and the move inevitably will prompt outrage from aid groups and some recipient countries.

Veterans, meanwhile, appeared to be saved any drastic cuts, with $66.7 million taken from its $3.5 billion budget. The biggest change will be to the way housekeeping and maintenance services are provided to the 96,000 veterans, primary caregivers and survivors enrolled in the Veterans Independence Program.

Pat Varga, head of the Royal Canadian Legion, said any changes that make it easier for veterans and their families to access services and assistance are welcome, but the fact the government is making cuts when many veterans are struggling is unacceptable.

"We've been seeing consistently an increase in the number of injured veterans coming forward," she said. "I think our veterans deserve the very best from the government, and we see a decrease here."

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